A Grave To Dig
by Lady Elanya
Summary: She's loved Danny all her life, six years ago she ran away from it all. She grew up and now she is back, right after Danny and Lindsay get together. What will the team do when they all have to work together? Bones CSI:NY crossover. DL, DOC SM, FOC, BB, HA
1. Chapter 1

Hey this is my first CSI:NY fanfic and the first fic I have written in some time. Let me know if you like!!!

(Disclaimer) I don't own CSI:NY believe me if I did, I would not be writing fanfics.

A Grave to Dig

Chapter 1

"911, what is your emergency?" the operator spoke calmly. Used to life dealing with emergencies and possibilities of life and death.

"You have to help me! I don't know where I am! It smells horrible. It is dark and I am in a small space." The woman shouted frantically into the other end of the phone.

"Miss, you need to stay calm, what is the last thing you remember from before finding yourself where you are now?" The operator's pulse began to quicken as she tried to calm the woman.

"I don't know, I mean I came to New York to see an old friend and look at some new leads that I found on my parents disappearance." The woman began to speak a little calmer as she began to remember why she was here in New York again. "I am technically here on vacation."

"Miss, what is your name?" The operator decided it would be best to continue small talk with the woman until she could figure out where she was.

"My name is Lotus Thatcher…" the other end of the line went dead for a moment. "Oh my God! There are two other bodies in here!"

"Miss, Miss Thatcher," the operator tried to get a response only to hear the line was dead…

-------------------------------------------CSI:NY-------------------------------------------------------

"So Flack, what have we got?" The young CSI walked under the tape into Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

"Hey Danny, we had a 911 call at 10:43 pm last night. A frantic young woman claiming to be in a dark and cramped space, she had no idea of where she was except New York. We traced the call to this park and guess what, we found a container sticking out of the ground and we still haven't opened it up yet. We were just waiting for you." Flack motioned Danny over to where the container was and showed him the door so they could open it up. "You ready?"

As if in response to Flack's question, Danny pulled on the lever to open up the door and inside he immediately saw two bodies. He could tell very little about them, both were badly decomposed and yet still wonderfully intact. "Hmm, two bodies, decomposed, they have been here awhile. Any more information on the woman who called it in?" Danny set his kit down on the ground and began to move towards examining the remains.

"Yeah, she said her name was…" Flack began to flip through his note pad and before he had a chance to reply to Danny.

"There is another body in here!" Danny spoke with shock and urgency. "And she is still alive!!"

"Alive! We need an ambulance over here immediately. This is Detective Don Flack, NYPD, we have a young woman here. Mid-twenties, brunette, most likely the woman who called in the 911 call earlier, her name is Lotus Thatcher."

"Lotus Thatcher!" Danny could not hide the shock in his voice.

"Wait, Lotus Thatcher," Flack looked up at his close friend. "I haven't seen her in…" He started to think about his reply.

"In over six years. Not since she moved to Denver after the Gravedigger took her parents. Oh God!" Danny looked at the bodies once again. "Her parents…" his voice trailed off.

"Wait, you mean the Gravedigger that took her parents probably did this to her?" Flack looked down towards the container in amazement. "The Gravedigger that kidnapped Dr. Temperance Brennan and her associate Dr. Hodgins last spring?"

"Yes, the same Gravedigger that did and does all that. Can I get your help to get her out of here so the EMS doesn't contaminate my crime scene?" Danny stepped down into the container that was still half buried. He looked down at the woman who laid out before him. Sure in some ways she looked a little like the woman he once called his best friend but she looked so different in so many ways. Her hair was longer and pulled up into a very professional looking ponytail, she wasn't wearing glasses anymore, she was dressed nicely, and everything about her appearance and vibe she gave off was different.

"Danny…" her eyes briefly fluttered for a moment and he could have sworn she looked right at him and smiled. But the moment was brief and before he knew it the EMS was rushing past him pushing him out of the way.

"Name?" the man knelt down next to her.

"Lotus Thatcher," Danny replied.

"Age?" He continued the onslaught of questions.

"26," Danny still remembered everything about her. He still thought about her quite a bit.

"Any living relatives?" The man took out the items he needed to check her vitals.

"None, her only two are mostly likely in that container over there." Danny pointed to where they had found Lotus.

"Any one close to her?" He looked up at Danny hoping that this young woman had someone.

"Me, I guess," He looked down at the woman and could not help but want to smile. For him it was like seeing an old friend that he hadn't seen in ages even if she was in such a bad state, at least he had found her.

"Would you like to accompany us to the hospital with her?" the EMS gave Danny a look that meant he didn't have too but it was recommended.

"Don't worry about it Danny, I will call Mac and get him to come over and help us out. You stay with our friend." Flack smiled at Danny and pulled out his cell phone.

As Danny moved to walk with the EMS to the ambulance, Lindsey Monroe was walking under the tape. He gave her a weak smile and then continued to walk on past her. She moved over towards Flack, "What is with Danny? Where is he going?"

"A woman was found alive in the container, we have known her since she was young." Flack hung up with phone. "Mac is on his way to help you out with the scene." He moved towards the tape so that he could question the officer who was first on the scene.

Lindsey moved over to the container and looked inside. "Wow, I am not an expert at bodies like this but I would have to say by the rate of decomp, they have been down here for at least six or more years."

"Well that fits with the timeline; Lotus Thatcher's parents went missing seven years ago. Taken by Gravedigger, and from the MO, it looks like she was too." Flack placed his hand on Lindsey's shoulder. "Don't worry, Danny will be ok, right now you concentrate on processing the scene until Mac gets here."

------------------------------------------CSI:NY-------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile…

Danny paced back and forth in the waiting room while the doctors treated Lotus. On the trip there he was told that her condition wasn't too serious, a bad case of dehydration, poor air supply, a large gash on her arm that would need a few stitches and two strange burn marks on the back of her neck. While he waited he told the nurses he would be visiting his brother's room.

"Hey Louie," Danny sat down by his bed side. "Guess who is only a floor away, yeah Lotus, that awkward little girl we grew up with. She is pretty beaten up but I guess I could say she is in better condition then you. I would like to know how she ended up in the same container with most likely her parents." He slowly grabbed his brother's hand as a nurse walked in the room.

"I am sorry to disturb you." The nurse spoke cautiously, she had become used to having Danny around the hospital, and every time he had a day off he was by his brother. "Detective Messer, you can see Miss Thatcher now."

"Thank you," Danny stood up and walked to Lotus' room. He took a slow step in and stared at her. Her heart monitor was steadily beating and she had an IV hooked up to her arm. He remembered back to one of the first times he had spent a considerable amount of time with her, it had been in a hospital and there she was, just laying there almost as if he had stepped back into that moment.

He sat down in the chair next to her bed and ran his hand through his messy blond hair. "Hey, Thatch," he smiled as he spoke the nickname he hadn't said in years. "The first time I see you in six years and it had to be on a case. You sure have a talent of popping up when you are least expected, don't you?"

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't." She spoke slowly and Danny jumped, unaware that she was already awake. "Here you are talking to me and now you look surprised that I actually spoke."

"Hey glad to see you still have a sense of humor." Danny stood up and smiled down at her. '_Wow, she is really beautiful now. What the hell am I saying, she is practically my sister._'

"Hey Messer!" She shouted trying to bring him back to earth. "Is that anyway to treat a friend you haven't seen in years?"

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Well there it is, the first chapter! Let me know if you liked it. I already have the second chapter written so if I get a good response, I will go ahead and post it really quickly.

Please review!!!

LadyElanya


	2. Chapter 2

A Grave to Dig

Chapter 2

--------------------------------------------Across Town------------------------------------------

Detective Stella Bonasera stepped under the crime tape and into her scene. Hawkes was already there waiting for her leaning over the resting place of their dead body. She took a step closer and began to mentally evaluate the scene. '_Body found inside of a shed, half way in a container of some sort, male, late thirties, two gun shot wounds, look like through and throughs, don't see any shell casings, or bullet holes in the walls, killer most likely cleaned up after himself.'_

"Hey Stel!" Hawkes waved his hand in front of her face. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she looked up at her friend. "Welcome back."

"Sorry, I was just taking everything in." She knelt down to get a better look at the victim. "Any idea who he is?"

"Victor Channing, owner of this residence, rigor puts his death at no more then 12 hours ago." He looked over at her and handed her his wallet that he had gotten out of his pocket earlier. He had already done a positive facial match with the ID inside but still being one of the 'rookies' in the CSI team he did his best to explain all his findings and hand them over to the bosses.

"Ok, any distinct information you can tell me about the wounds?" She lightly placed her hand on the back of the body where one of the bullet wounds was.

"Not really, just a simple through and through. The only thing unique about this is it as if the killer was never here. There are no shell casings, no bullets, no bullet holes, and no ricochet marks, nothing to tell us anything about the killer yet." He began to open up his kit as did Stella, both preparing to start processing the scene.

"Doesn't matter how thorough he was, there is always evidence that traces back to someone." Stella took out her fingerprinting powder and dust and began to head for the door knob of the shed.

-----------------------------------------------CSI:NY------------------------------------------------

"Lotus, how the hell did you end up in that container? And what the hell are you doing in New York?" Danny could not help but be a little pushy about the matter. He had not seen or heard from her in six years and now she shows up in the container most likely holding her dead parents, who were kidnapped seven years ago.

"I came to New York to visit you; I wanted it to be a surprise, since we haven't seen each other in so long." She fiddled with the edge of the blanket she was under. Whenever she was nervous she always found something to keep her hands busy, it was a habit she had never been able to break.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you since, you sold your parents house, packed up and moved without so much as a goodbye to my face. I just got home one night after work, the night of work you didn't show up for and find a message on my answering machine. 'Hey I got a job in Colorado, I am sorry Danny, I just can't stay in New York anymore.' And then that is the last I hear from my friend for six years!" Danny could not help but be a little sensitive in the matter. He had always wanted to know what made his greatest friend just pick up and leave everything, her work, her home, her friend, and her life behind.

"Danny, you know why I left, there is not a doubt in your mind that I left to get away from the memories and the scandals that continued to follow me after my parents disappearance." She heaved in a large sigh and let it out. "Danny, I couldn't even do my job anymore. Everywhere I went reporters were there to ask me if any new evidence on my parents disappearance had been found, the people at work treated me differently. Even you, you no longer looked at me the way you used too, you only looked at me with pity, and that was and still is the last thing I need."

"Ok, well, the past isn't changing. So let's start with when did you get to New York?" Danny pulled out his pad and pen and prepared to write down what she remembered.

"I got to New York, the day before yesterday. I had come here to see you and I had received an email tipping me off to some new information on my parents kidnapping." She closed her eyes as she tried to remember all that had happened.

"Where did you go after the airport?" Danny looked up from his pad to see her struggling with the trying to remember. "Do you want to do this later?"

"No, it is just that most of it is still fuzzy, I remember meeting the man who had sent me the email, his name was Victor, something or other. The email is in my pants pocket. After that, I really don't remember anything." She held her hand to her head and then with left hand reached for the glass of water on the table next to her only to wince in pain and draw her injured arm back.

"So you don't remember anything after that, you don't remember how you got the gash on your arm, you don't remember getting the burns on the back of your neck, or being put into the container with your parents?" Danny grabbed the glass and handed it to her. "Do you even remember making the 911 call?"

She shook her head as she took a sip of the water glass in her hand. "How long till I can get out of here?"

"I don't know," Danny stood up, "I can go ask the doctors though." She looked up at him and smiled. A real smile, like the ones she used to give him seven years ago, before her parents disappeared. One that he had missed and had almost forgotten what it looked like.

"Thanks Messer," she called him the nickname that she had given him so many years ago. Even she could not help but feel as if they hadn't even been apart a day.

Danny walked out of the room and down to the nurse's station down the hall. Lotus continued to stare at the area of her arm that was bandaged. She shut her eyes. _Why can't I remember anything?_ She brought her other arm to the back of her neck where the other bandage was. _What the hell happened to me?_ She began trying to piece together the small fragments that she did remember only to find that no matter what she did, she could only remember fragments, nothing that seemed to piece them together. Images of a shed, the interior of a car, a flash of light and a loud noise, the smell of death, and the feeling of panic, those were the only things that she could remember.

"Lotus?" Danny stood in the doorway; it appeared that he had been there for awhile. "You ok?"

"Yeah, what did the nurse say?" She looked up at him and did her best to smile and hide the fact she was worried about what had happened to her.

"She said you can leave tonight. Your injuries are not that bad and so long as you take it easy, you should have no problems." He noticed the fear behind her smile. He had always been able to read her easier then anyone else in the world and there was no way she could hide anything from him. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"No, I was going to get here and see if I could find a hotel to stay in but now I have no money or anything to get into one." She shrugged her shoulders and let out a large sigh.

"Hey, I still have a guest room; you can stay with me as long as you need." He walked closer to her and sat down on the chair next to her bed. "If that is ok with you, I mean?"

"It would be nicer to stay someplace that is familiar. And to feel safe." She watched as he put his hand on the edge of her bed. She did not know if he had unconsciously put it there or if he had on purpose. "Danny, despite how hard it is for me to say this, I have to know, was the rape kit, positive?"

"We are not sure yet." Danny let his eyes fall down to the floor.

"You will let me know, won't you?" Her hand moved and grabbed his as she fought back the tears that wanted to fall from her eyes. He simply nodded and she decided to change the topic. "Have my clothes already been sent to the lab?"

"Yeah, everything was sent over there." He squeezed her hand lightly, wanting to show her his empathy, that was when he remembered why she had left, she hated pity, always had. "Whenever you want to get going, let me know. I will take you to get a big slice of real New York pizza, with all the grease and pepperoni you want. Then we can go back to my place watch movies until we pass out and then I will take you by the lab tomorrow so you can give your full statement and say hi to the gang."

"Thank you Danny." She let out a big smile and then there was a moment of silence. Their eyes just staring at one another, both wanting to say something but finding that they were unable too. The moment seemed like it was going to last forever, their hands holding one another, their eyes piercing each other.

"Ms. Thatcher," a nurse walked into the room. Danny quickly let her hand go and turned around to face the door, "the doctor has cleared you to leave as soon as you wish. Just take it easy and take these medicines every morning and we want to see you next week to make sure you are doing ok."

"Thank you," Lotus looked over to state at Danny's back. The she shook her head and pulled back the covers of the blanket that covered her. He turned around to give her a big smile when he noticed the fact that she was only wearing a hospital dress and that was all she had on, and that her only clothes were at the lab.

"You might start a new fad, Thatch." He pointed out what she was wearing and she quickly covered herself with the blanket again. "I will see if I can find you some clothes." He left the room and Lotus let out a sigh again as she leaned back against the pillow again. She shook her head and allowed herself to smile, the type of smile she had not allowed in seven years.

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Well I realize that this has taken longer then I meant it too but hey at least I finally update right? Let me know what you think, okay?

Lady Elanya


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